


Kingdom of our Own

by zenonaa



Category: Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 12:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20866334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenonaa/pseuds/zenonaa
Summary: 'Approximately seven weeks ago, Touko revealed her pregnancy to Byakuya and approximately seven weeks ago, Byakuya stared back at her, frozen. Time held its breath. Then, within seconds, the walls of surprise around him shattered and he grabbed her shoulders, breaking into a smile. Not one of his smirks or a twist of the mouth that could be misconstrued as a sneer, but a smile that showed a row of even white teeth that blurred as she welled up.'Touko and Byakuya go shopping for baby clothes.





	Kingdom of our Own

**Author's Note:**

> happy tofu day!

Darkness still cloaked the bedroom when Touko opened her eyes. 

When they started rebuilding Hope’s Peak, the only intact building had been the old school building where the killing game took place, so until Touko and the others rebuilt a dormitory building on the south side of campus, they had been forced to reside there. Even after they transferred over to where they lived now, nightmares continued to lap at them and run ghostly fingers down their spines. 

Sometimes, they still did. Have nightmares.

Like flowers rearing their heads after a barren winter, a city grew around the new Hope’s Peak, where ash was snow and dead, decayings leaves were substituted with dead bodies, but even so, even now, the city left a lot to be desired. Scaffolding grew up buildings like vines, buildings made from ruins, and during the day and sometimes well into the night, the whirr and roar of machinery grumbled through the school grounds. Those first few weeks so long ago proved difficult to sleep through. Hearing those noises reminded the survivors of the killing game, of the rattle of machine guns, of the heart-wrenching explosions that teased their hearing during their confinement years ago. It sounded like the battering of baseballs. The roar of a motorcycle engine. Fire crackling. A laptop being smashed. A conveyor belt buzzing.

Just clearing the rubble took years.

Tonight, she hadn’t had a nightmare. Had just woken up from a dreamless sleep. The only lights in the bedroom - two, to be precise - originated from a night light sat on the bedside table nearest Touko while the other hovered on her other side. Touko grabbed her glasses off the bedside table and put them on so she could see what created the other light.

It turned out to be the face of the laptop resting on her husband’s lap.

Their mattress creaked as she shifted her weight. She squinted, her heavy eyes adjusting to the pocket of light. It reflected off Byakuya’s glasses, and the shadows on his face stood out like a coffee stain on one of his many white shirts. Though the darkness scared her because anything could lurk in it, such as monsters and nothingness and hands that weren’t hers, she knew it was his face it clung to here on their bed, and so she wasn’t scared.

“Byakuya?” she mumbled as she fixed her glasses.

He didn’t turn his head in the slightest. His finger stroked his laptop’s touchpad, and his lips remained pursed in concentration.

“Decorations like frills and ribbons can irritate a newborn’s skin,” he murmured without looking up.

Barely processing what he said due to the fog of sleep clouding her mind, she nodded, lay her head down again and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Approximately seven weeks ago, Touko revealed her pregnancy to Byakuya and approximately seven weeks ago, Byakuya stared back at her, frozen. Time held its breath. Then, within seconds, the walls of surprise around him shattered and he grabbed her shoulders, breaking into a smile. Not one of his smirks or a twist of the mouth that could be misconstrued as a sneer, but a smile that showed a row of even white teeth that blurred as she welled up. He let go of her shoulders and after she pounced into his chest, muffling her cries of happiness with his shirt, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her deeper into a hug.

They were going to have a baby.

They were going to be parents.

Since that moment in the doorway of their bathroom, both of them had thrown themselves into preparations. Byakuya arranged the baby shower and insisted they order in and set up the necessary equipment for checkups in the first aid room, rather than have Touko fly out to a hospital for them. She hated hospitals. As well as that, he attended each appointment, holding Touko’s hand as Hiroko spread jelly onto Touko’s stomach, and he took photos each time the baby scan appeared on the screen even though Hiroko said she could get him a copy.

And they had a lot of appointments.

A lot.

All their friends heaped the couple with support, and that included Touko’s alter. So far, Syo only fronted occasionally, mostly when Touko’s hormones ran too wild. Touko hadn’t spoken to her alter about it, but she had her suspicions, and Byakuya confirmed them when he told her that Syo informed him she didn’t like the sensation of being pregnant so avoided coming out. Still, Touko would awake and the baby would be fine, and one time, Touko discovered a package ordered in her name, and it turned out to be a t-shirt with ‘VODKA AUNT’ printed on the front and a baby romper suit that had ‘BACK OFF! I HAVE A CRAZY AUNT AND I’M NOT AFRAID TO USE HER’ written on it with hearts around the text.

The one thing they hadn’t done much of yet was baby clothes shopping. Keyword being ‘yet’. Hiroko bought a couple of things for them, mostly blankets and bath towels, and their friends gave them various bits and bobs, but according to a website dedicated to babycare that Byakuya found, they needed more, and both Byakuya and Touko wanted to do some of the shopping for themselves. It was a simple thing that both craved.

And so, late one morning, the doors of a clothing store in one of the city’s districts yawned open as Touko and Byakuya emerged into it together. After a couple of steps, with Byakuya taking the lead, wearing a burgundy jacket paired with matching trousers and a green t-shirt, he came to a stop. Other shoppers were sprinkled throughout the white-walled area, shuffling their feet across the scuffed flooring as they meandered between shelf units and clothing racks.

Byakuya pushed up his glasses and surveyed his surroundings. He spotted a sign on a nearby wall, boasting arrows labelled with various clothing sections.

“They’re on this floor,” he said.

“Good,” replied Touko, eyeing outfits that wouldn’t fit her anymore. Her pale red floral flare maternity dress fitted her snugly, as did her purple leggings. 

His eyes flitted over to Touko. He gave a nod, grabbed a canvas bag from a line of them and beckoned to her. She followed him across the floor, one hand holding his hand while her other was placed on her stomach. Gaps and spaces that could fit more clothes bloated shelves and racks, as if the couple arrived at the end of the day after a huge sale, but Touko suspected that this was all the stock the shop had.

Oh well. They would make do. The couple pressed on, passing piles of vest tops, lines of leggings and printed t-shirts, but neither gave them a second glance. As they weaved past a display shelf showcasing jeans of various shades, two girls blocked their path, chatting loudly with jerky hand flourishes and seemingly unaware of the world beyond their bubble.

Touko grimaced. Byakuya squared his shoulders.

“Move,” he said, pointing a finger at them. “My wife’s coming through.”

She could have swooned, but she just placed her hand on her cheek.

The girls scrunched up their faces but as Touko drew closer, their eyes flickered and they reluctantly shunted to one side to let them pass. Byakuya grabbed her hand again and strode on with Touko in tow, and they continued across the shop floor until they arrived at a section with colourful clothing that reminded Touko of a bouquet of flowers. A large board hung on the wall nearby, with a photo of a smiling mother and her baby on it.

However, more worthy of their attention were the miniature clothes surrounding them. Little t-shirts. Small romper suits. Some had writing on them with little quips and statements. Others were plainer, wordless. Byakuya plucked a blue jumper off a rail and rubbed one of its sleeves between his thumb and forefinger.

“Assuming you got pregnant around January, our child will be due in October,” he said, keeping his eyes downcast as he studied the material as gently as one would handle the infant wearing it. “At such an early stage of their development, babies grow at a quick pace. Therefore, we will want to buy clothes on the bigger side. Our child will still be able to fit into them even if the article is for an older child. We will want warmer clothes for when he’s born, and lighter weight clothes in a size of nine months to one year for when he reaches six months... While we do have some baby clothes gifted to us from our friends, we should buy a few more zero to three months outfits to cover all bases...”

Every word that uncurled from his mouth tugged Touko’s lips into a wider smile. She bobbed her head in agreement and poked her index fingers together. 

“You’re ever so prepared, Darling,” she told him with a simper. Byakuya nudged up his glasses.

“Of course I am. Our child deserves the best and nothing less,” he replied. He returned the jumper to the rail and began rifling through the other hangers, inspecting the rest of the stock. The metal hooks scraped as he pulled them along. Behind him, Touko did the same.

Some outfits bore slogans that reminded Touko of the romper suit Yasuhiro gave them - one colour, with writing on the front and in his case, it had just said, ‘INSERT IMAGE HERE’ with nothing else on it. She pouted as she visualised it in her head and hauled a different, unexceptional romper suit toward herself, after which she widened her eyes, seeing the one hiding behind it.

“We have to buy him this!” she said, snatching a hanger off the rail. Byakuya turned, holding a pink corduroy romper with bunny decals.

Her fingers pinched the shoulders of a white romper suit. On the front, in bold, black font, it said, ‘OF COURSE I’M CUTE, LOOK AT MY DADDY’.

Byakuya clicked his tongue with a furrowed brow. She continued staring at him. He turned away and elevated one finger, pointing it upward.

“... Newborn size,” he said.

Touko deposited the romper suit into their fabric bag. Byakuya draped the romper suit he found over his forearm and the pair resumed leafing through the rails for more outfits. An excited flutter trembled in her chest as she hunted through the different clothing. Dresses with pockets that a baby wouldn’t need. Cotton onesies with faces of animals and cartoon mascots on them. She moved onto the next rail, dragged a few hangers, and gasped.

“This one!” Touko shrieked, and she revealed a grey romper suit that said in black cursive, ‘MUM + DAD = ME.’”

Byakuya faced her and read it. He narrowed his eyes. “Let me feel it.”

She held it out, and he rubbed the sleeve between his thumb and index finger.

“... They’re rather lightweight, so I would buy one that is labelled for nine months to a year,” he said.

Touko stored the romper suit in the fabric bag and straightened up. They both continued facing each other. He stepped toward her. She tilted her head back, drinking in the sight of him. Of his blond hair that she loved running her fingers through, his blue eyes she could stare into for hours and his tall frame that fitted around her so perfectly. Without a word, he brought his hand forward and placed it gently against her bump. 

Neither spoke, and in this nook of silence, Touko wondered if her father ever accompanied her mothers on their shopping trips when one of them had been pregnant with her. If he ever picked out a snap button t-shirt and imagined her in it, if he checked the sizes on different shoes to find a pair that would fit her, his baby. If he went with one mother. If he went with both mothers. If he bothered to go at all. She never asked, and so she wondered if her mothers ever looked forward to the birth of their children. If they ambled through shops, choosing little outfits, and if they ever cared at all. They certainly hadn’t after she was born alive and her half-sister wasn’t.

With a shaky breath, she looked up. Byakuya’s eyes were trained on her bump. He had told her he had been conceived in a laboratory dish. While she grew up as a second thought, as a burden, as a slap in the face by her mothers’ older boyfriend’s infidelity, as a shackle they couldn’t escape from, Byakuya had been wanted, specifically created to continue the conglomerate, as a business investment, and grew up being told the world would be his. The conglomerate tried to mould and shape him into its perfect successor. Anything less wasn’t good enough. Byakuya, one of more than a hundred, whose other siblings had been sent into exile and cursed with the fate all losers of the heir selection process fell to. Byakuya, who couldn’t remember meeting his father until he won. A father, who his son referred to as ‘Togami-sama’, a cold and heartless man who Byakuya would have grown into if he hadn’t enrolled at Hope’s Peak. Met his classmates. Met Touko. Felt love. To everyone else, he was Togami, but to her, he was Byakuya.

After a life full of conflicts, of constant death and loss, a life where their greatest conflicts were now finding enough baby clothes or getting past a few people in a store was something both treasured.

Love glowed in her chest, warm and filling.

“I’m really happy, Byakuya,” she said softly.

He met her gaze and swallowed, and he replied, 

“I am as well.”


End file.
